Stephen King has said a “near death” experience inspired his new Apple TV+ series Lisey’s Story.
King revealed that he came close to dying from a serious case of pneumonia after he was hospitalised in 2003.
In a new featurette, which you can watch below, King said of the experience: “I was really close to stepping out”.
He added: “When I came home from the hospital, my wife had cleaned out my study and I thought to myself, ‘I’ve died, I’m a ghost.’ The idea for Lisey’s Story came from that.”
The new series, which premiers on June 4, has been directed by J. J. Abrams and stars both Julianne Moore and Clive Owen. It follows Lisey Landon, a widow (played by Moore) who becomes entangled in a deadly series of events tied to the work of her late novelist husband (Owen).
Telling viewers what to expect in the featurette, King added: “At its core, this is a love story. Lisey is a different thing for me. It’s very close to my heart.”
King also opens up about how he adapted the novel for the screen himself, writing all eight episodes of the mini-series.
“I wanted to tell the story that was in the book, but I wanted to make it better,” King said. “I thought if somebody was going to mess it up… I used to tell my wife, nobody is going to mess it up but me.”
In other King-related news, Steven Spielberg and Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers announced in March that they were collaborating to adapt the writer’s The Talisman novel for Netflix.
Stranger Things executive producer and writer Curtis Gwinn is set to be the showrunner and writer for the series, with Matt and Ross Duffer executive producing alongside Spielberg. A release date and cast lineup for the adaptation has not yet been revealed.
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